The demand for Bitcoin does not equate to it being inculcated as payment system in everyday life of people. They are different ways and approach to Bitcoin and I can tell you that the demand you see is purely investment driven. People see Bitcoin as a good investment opportunity as they can buy and hold without doing anything further yet their money will grow significantly.

Buying Bitcoin and holding it is different from using Bitcoin for our daily activities. This post is supposed to challenge those of us who believe in this fantastic technology, to think of how we can create innovative ways Bitcoin can be used in daily business activities of the people of all ages and culture; a way that Bitcoin will even become a preferred option. Until we get to this stage, the percentage of human population involved in Bitcoin will not increase exponentially as we are all expecting.

I don't forsee bitcoin payment going mainstream anytime soon, because there are major factors that will militate against it. One major factor that'll be against bitcoin payment going mainstream is the transaction fee for small items, it won't make financial sense to buy a tin of milk and pay transaction fee that will double the price. Presently that we're faced with congestion in the mempool, that's making transaction fees to skyrocket, it will not encourage customers to choose bitcoin, as option of payment. The complexity of lightening network does not help issues either, as both buyer and seller needs to have it.

Traditional fiat transfer still works better, cheaper and faster than bitcoin, so as it is now, I'll rather make payments from my bank account because it's more convenient and cheaper. I believe that bitcoin has lost it's original purpose of p2p payment method, it's now mainly an asset for trading and investment. I hope that sometime in the future people will totally embrace the decentralized system of payment that bitcoin brings, but until then it's fiat payment for me.

Indeed, the reality is like that, this is probably something that Bitcoin developers are still dealing with today. Focus on this is still essential if Bitcoin is to pass the payout milestone. According to my observations, fees and transaction congestion on Bitcoin will be very serious this time, why? Yes, this is caused by project activities on Bitcoin's BRC-20 network which I think will experience a big explosion. Moreover, recently ORDI has also become the main perpetrator of BTC network congestion, causing transaction fees to increase many times over.

They will never be mainstream unless the public is essentially forced to use Bitcoin as the only alternative for private payments, that is, once governments remove physical cash, then the only alternative to pay without reporting to someone what you are doing, will be to use Bitcoin (and I assume, some other altcoins). The problem with BTC will be the fees, so in order for anyone to bother, if we really move smaller payments to LN, it will need to be insanely useful and accessible through your standard phone. Nobody is going to bother, at the mainstream level, to deal with convoluted operations like opening and closing channels and so on. They'll probably end up just giving up on any privacy and use whatever CBDC they are issued.

Well cryptocurrency payments are kinda like the cool kids at the finance party, gaining more popularity. It could totally go mainstream soon with more people and businesses getting into it. But of course there are still some hurdles like rules and government should pay attention to it. Lets not count out the traditional payments just yet. Nothings constant except change, right?

I like how you stylishly didn't limit payment option to Bitcoin alone but to the entire crypto industry. Anyway, to put it mildly, even if cryptocurrency were to be adopted as a mainstream payment option, it's more likely not going to be Bitcoin as it were now. Apart from its transaction fees being very high whenever the Blockchain is clogged up, Bitcoin supply is small and that's going to make it scarcer than it's already.

IMO, adoption could speed up once many influencers demonstrate how to use it as a payment tool. The real potential lies in crypto serving as an asset with dual functions rather than just being currency.

The biggest challenge, in my view, is the infrastructure. Irreversible transactions require building infrastructure from those involved in the business, such as merchants and buyers. The government might only play a supervisory role, as long as crypto doesn't offer advantages to the government like FIAT does. In that case, the government might have a more passive response.

As the user base grows, it's like an unbroken chain where crypto becomes more popular with more people using it.

Probably the biggest setback to merchant adoption at this point is price volatility... Price of BTC and all other cryptos moves up and down too much for businesses to do anything other than sell it for fiat right away, which usually incurs some kind of fee between 0.5% - 3%. So by accepting crypto, merchants take a bit of a hit because they must calculate business expenses in terms of a more stable currency (fiat).

Most of my income has been crypto-only for a few years, so I can tell you there is still some friction when cashing out to fiat, no matter how you do it. My customers obviously use crypto for payments as well but we are pretty far from the "mainstream."

How long do you mean by soon?
I don't think crypto payment system will be going mainstream in the next 5 years, in the first world country, maybe, but for developing countries, the infrastructure is not ready yet, the internet connection is not wide spread, and not really reliable. Even in my place which is quite modern, there are often trouble when I tried to pay with card.

It won't become popular worldwide quickly, but it is entirely possible that the majority of the world will use cryptocurrency as an alternative in the next 5 years. I know that there are still some countries and regions that do not have widespread access to the Internet or smartphones, but we have also seen the world develop very quickly in recent years. Therefore, I believe that countries that still have some of the problems you mentioned will soon be resolved and overcome in the next few years. And once people can use phones and the internet, using cryptocurrency is inevitable.